1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to graphical user interfaces for computer systems, and in particular, to a method and apparatus for displaying translucent, overlapping graphical objects on a computer monitor.
2. Description of Related Art
Current windowing systems are opaque in that only the top level window is visible, and other levels are partially or fully obscured by the top level window. Usually the top level window is the active window in the system, although the lower level windows may operate in the background.
The obscuring of windows leads to several problems for novice users. One problem is that the lower level windows can partially or completely vanish from sight of the user, and thus may appear to be lost. Another problem is that the user may be involved in the continuous actions of re-sizing windows and entering relatively convoluted mouse operations to change the top window from one application to another application.
To overcome the limitations in the prior art described above, and to overcome other limitations that will become apparent upon reading and understanding the present specification, the present invention discloses a method and apparatus for displaying translucent, overlapping graphical objects, e.g., windows, on a computer monitor. In the system, a graphical representation of a first object is displayed on the monitor of the computer. Then, a graphical representation of a second object is displayed on the monitor overlaying and obscuring at least a portion of the first object. The system displays a vestigial representation of a portion of the first object obscured by the second object through the second object. Typically, the vestigial representation comprises an outline of the object, although other graphical representations could also be used. Moreover, multiple such overlapping objects may be displayed on the monitor in a similar manner. The system accepts a command from the user to identify and designate a lower level object as a top level object. In pen-based PCs, the command is a pen gesture, and preferably, the drawing of the Greek xe2x80x9cgammaxe2x80x9d character or xcex3.
An object of the present invention is to display translucent, overlapping graphical objects on a monitor so that all levels of objects are visible to the user. This allows the user to see all levels of objects at the same time, and thus prevents the user from xe2x80x9closingxe2x80x9d a lower level object.
Another object of the present invention is to reduce or eliminate the need for the user to continually re-size objects, move objects, or enter relatively convoluted mouse operations to change the top level object when operating the computer.